Today's wireless devices allow users to run various data applications, such as internet browsers (Internet Explorer, Firefox, etc.), social media programs (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, etc.), email managers (e.g., Outlook, etc.), network programs (e.g., Skype, Instant Messenger, etc.), and other programs. Such programs often generate a considerable amount of background overhead that may generally be communicated over the wireless link using predictable messages (such as hello messages) containing predictable background data. For instance, a user equipment (UE) that is running a social media application (e.g., Facebook) may send occasional status messages to the service provider that confirm that the application is still running on the UE. This status information may allow the service provider to perform various tasks, such as alert other users that the instant user is available to chat. There are many other reasons that applications may communicate background overhead, including for (but not limited to) billing/accounting, control signaling, and validation purposes.
Oftentimes the predictable packets used to communicate this background overhead are repetitive in nature, and are sent periodically (or semi-periodically). For instance, a social media application may send a status/hello message every ten seconds to notify the server that the programming is still running. These predictable packets may be internet protocol (IP) packets (or another protocol, such as Ethernet) comprising upwards of forty bytes, and consequently the transportation of these predictable packets may consume significant amounts of bandwidth on the wireless connection. Additionally, a UE may be required to complete an initialization protocol (e.g., a control plane protocol) to achieve an appropriate level of synchronization prior to sending the background information over the wireless link. For instance, in 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) long term evolution (LTE) systems, a UE that is presently in an idle state (e.g., a radio resource connected (RRC) idle state) may need to transition into an active state (e.g., RRC CONNECTED state) before sending predictable packets. In some instances, UEs in the active state (e.g., RRC CONNECTED state) may be required to transition from a low-level synchronization sub-state (e.g., OUT OF SYNC) to a higher level synchronization sub-state (e.g., IN SYNC state) before sending the predictable packet over the wireless link. Such transitions may require the communication of hundreds (or even thousands) of bytes of data over the wireless link, thereby substantially increasing the amount of resources consumed through communication of the background overhead.
For these and other reasons, the communication of background overhead related to data applications installed on wireless devices (e.g., UEs) may consume substantial amounts of bandwidth in wireless networks. Accordingly, techniques and systems for reducing the amount of bandwidth consumed by the communication of background information are desired.